Category Archives: Crime

Boris A. Berezovsky, a Putin Critic, Dies Near London – NYTimes.com

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Check for polonium.

Mr. Dobrovinsky wrote in Russian on his Facebook page: “Just got a call from London. Boris Berezovsky has committed suicide. The man was complex. An act of desperation? Impossible to live poor? A series of blows? I am afraid that no one will know the truth.”

The Thames Valley police in Berkshire, an hour from London, said Saturday that they were investigating the “unexplained” death of a 67-year-old man, apparently Mr. Berezovsky, in Ascot.

The police statement did not name Mr. Berezovsky, but British news reports said an investigation was under way at his home. “Specially trained officers are currently at the scene, including C.B.R.N.-trained officers, who are conducting a number of searches as a precaution,” said a spokeswoman for the Thames Valley police, referring to the force’s chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear team. “This is to enable officers to carry out an investigation into the man’s death. The body of the man is still in the property at this time.”

via Boris A. Berezovsky, a Putin Critic, Dies Near London – NYTimes.com.

Today Rand Paul and Pat Leahy Introduced a Bill to Fix Our Atrocious Federal Mandatory Minimum Laws – Hit & Run : Reason.com

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This is a great example of an area where the Tea Party and Occupy can see eye-to-eye. Rand Paul 2016!

Here’s why this bill is important: A guy–let’s call him Weldon–sells pot to a government informant, who notices that Weldon has a gun strapped to his ankle. The next time the informant buys pot from Weldon, he notices a gun in Weldon’s car. When police move in to arrest Weldon, they find guns in his house. Weldon has never fired these guns, never used them to coerce anyone. He has, however, sold pot three times* while in possession of a firearm, so prosecutors charge Weldon with “multiple counts of possession of a gun during a drug trafficking offense.” He is convicted. What do you think Weldon’s sentence is? Ten years? Twenty years? Try 55 years–five for the first gun-related offense, and 25 for the second and third. That’s the mandatory minimum federal sentence for Weldon’s charges, meaning the judge who sentenced him could not sentence him to less time–only more.

Weldon Angelos is a real person, by the way, and the existence of a safety valve in 2004, the year he was sentenced, would’ve allowed the judge to sentence him to 18 years instead of 55 (that was the judge’s preference). It would’ve meant Weldon, who was 24 at sentencing, would go free at age 42 instead of age 79. But because the federal system has mandatory minimums with no parole, Weldon will spend most of the rest of his life behind bars for selling several hundred dollars worth of pot while wearing a gun on his ankle.

via Today Rand Paul and Pat Leahy Introduced a Bill to Fix Our Atrocious Federal Mandatory Minimum Laws – Hit & Run : Reason.com.

TX Homeowner Get Into Gun Fight With 2 Heavily Armed Home Invaders – And Win

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A woman in rural Texas was enjoying a quiet night at home, watching television when she heard someone trying to enter the backdoor of her home.

She stood up and locked eyes with a man carrying a gun and dressed in camo.

The woman ran to grab a gun and called her husband, who was elsewhere on the property. The husband got to the home and grabbed a rifle.

Both the husband and wife fired on the suspects, with the husband hitting one of the suspects in the foot, bringing him down.

Both suspects opened fire on the home, which was riddled with bullet holes.

Before police could arrive, both suspects took their own lives.

Police are waiting on a positive ID on the suspects, but they believe one may be a 17 year old Oklahoma boy who stole guns, medication and a truck from his parents.

via [Video] TX Homeowner Get Into Gun Fight With 2 Heavily Armed Home Invaders – And Win.

No New Truck for Women Shot During Dorner Manhunt | NBC Southern California

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According to Jonas, LAPD and Galpin Ford wanted his clients to pose for a photo opportunity and pay income tax on the truck. The women no longer want the truck after they were told they needed to fill out a 1099 form for the donation, Jonas said Monday.

“You tried to murder the woman, now you’re telling her she can’t have a four-wheel drive, you’re telling her she can’t sell it and you’ve got to be taxed on it?” Jonas said. “How would anyone react to that?”

Jonas plans on filing a government claim, which is a precursor to any lawsuit filed against a government agency. He said he felt the truck was being touted as a “reward or prize” instead of a sincere gesture by the LAPD.

Galpin Ford estimates the value of the truck – a 2013 Ford 150 SuperCrew – at $32,560. The dealership had planned on paying the sales tax, vehicle registration and title on the truck, according to a dealership spokesperson.

“It’s really sad for us because we want to help these women move on with their lives, and help them move forward with that, we just can’t get past the 1099 issue,” LAPD Cmdr. Andrew Smith said. “The government has to take their bite out of it, I guess.”

The women’s Toyota Tacoma was pierced with 102 bullet holes from the Feb. 7 shooting, according to Jonas. Emma Hernandez is still recovering from two bullet wounds to her neck, which are giving her life-threatening complications, according to Jonas, who described what his clients went through that morning.

“The grandmother, Emma, starts saying, ‘God have mercy on us,’ because she thinks for sure they’re going to die,” Jonas said. “She then clutches around the back seat of her daughter to protect her from the gun shots because her daughter has children.”

via No New Truck for Women Shot During Dorner Manhunt | NBC Southern California.

Bryan Ferry’s son Merlin: A knife? That’s not a real crime | Metro News

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I call this a pre-crime arrest.

He warned of the ‘devastating consequences’ on his ‘lucky life’ if he carries a knife again. ‘One of my nightmares is that I give a lenient sentence to someone for having a bladed article and read a few months later that they have stabbed someone,’ said the judge.

‘You are just another young man carrying a knife and that makes you very frightening to people in west London and that is why people think I should send you to prison.’ Prosecutor James O’Connell said Ferry was rude when police in west London stopped his uninsured Saab car in September.

via Bryan Ferry’s son Merlin: A knife? That’s not a real crime | Metro News.

SWAT officer attracts ridicule after he’s pictured with his rifle sight on backwards | Mail Online

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Only the police can be trusted with AR-15s, right?

The officer is using a ‘military style’ assault weapon with a close quarters combat sight that costs roughly $500.

‘It’s disturbing to think that 1) none of his buddies corrected it, and 2) he’s in a real-life situation with his optic on backwards, which means he’s never fired that rifle with the optic on it, which means it isn’t zeroed and he thought it was OK to show up to a gunfight with an unzeroed weapon,’ wrote one Reddit user.

via SWAT officer attracts ridicule after he¿s pictured with his rifle sight on backwards | Mail Online.

Kid saves his mom and sister from sexual assault | khou.com Houston

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A boy broke from his binding and grabbed a handgun that sent the suspects fleeing from the Webster home invasion, which started about 4:30 a.m. Wednesday in the 18400 block of Anne Drive.

Webster police arrested Charles Allen Jacobson III, 33, near the home, and Dickinson police arrested James Ellis Barnett, 56, in a traffic stop.

Jacobson was charged with two counts of aggravated sexual assault of a woman and her daughter and with two counts of aggravated kidnapping, according to a Webster police statement issued Thursday afternoon by Chief Ray Smiley.

via Webster: 2 charged in home invasion | khou.com Houston.

Net providers begin warning of illegal downloads – New York News | NYC Breaking News

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Under the new system, complaints will prompt an Internet service provider — such as Verizon or AT&T — to notify a customer whose Internet address has been detected sharing files illegally. A person will be given up to six opportunities to stop before the Internet provider will take more drastic steps, such as temporarily slowing their connection, or redirecting Internet traffic until they acknowledge they received a notice or review educational materials about copyright law.

Consumers who maintain they have been wrongly accused would be forced to pay $35 to appeal the decision. The fee would be reimbursed if they prevail.

Proponents say the focus is on deterring the average consumer rather than chronic violators. The director of the organization behind the system, Jill Lesser of the Center for Copyright Infringement, said in a blog post Monday that the program is “meant to educate rather than punish, and direct (users) to legal alternatives.”

via Net providers begin warning of illegal downloads – New York News | NYC Breaking News.

Bay Area Law Enforcement Encourages Fighting Back Against Active Shooters « CBS San Francisco

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Fight back with what? They tried this during the Sandy Hook shooting. Civilians need to be able to match force with force.

Law enforcement agencies have begun adopting a new policy on so-called “active shooters,” encouraging civilians to take safety into their own hands and take down gunmen who threaten them at work or school.

This approach is gaining momentum in the wake of tragic incidents in Newtown, Connecticut and the Oikos University shooting in Oakland.

At San Jose Evergreen Community College, police have trained teachers, staff and students to follow specific guidelines during this kind of emergency.

via Bay Area Law Enforcement Encourages Fighting Back Against Active Shooters « CBS San Francisco.

Long Prison Terms Eyed as Contributing to Poverty – NYTimes.com

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This anecdote is similar to what I saw every day when I lived in Camden, NJ. I’m no bleeding heart, but prison is doing more harm than good in many cases.

For most of their daughters’ childhood, Mr. Harris didn’t come close to making the minimum wage. His most lucrative job, as a crack dealer, ended at the age of 24, when he left Washington to serve two decades in prison, leaving his wife to raise their two young girls while trying to hold their long-distance marriage together.

His $1.15-per-hour prison wages didn’t even cover the bills for the phone calls and marathon bus trips to visit him. Struggling to pay rent and buy food, Ms. Hamilton ended up homeless a couple of times.

“Basically, I was locked up with him,” she said. “My mind was locked up. My life was locked up. Our daughters grew up without their father.”

The shift to tougher penal policies three decades ago was originally credited with helping people in poor neighborhoods by reducing crime. But now that America’s incarceration rate has risen to be the world’s highest, many social scientists find the social benefits to be far outweighed by the costs to those communities.

“Prison has become the new poverty trap,” said Bruce Western, a Harvard sociologist. “It has become a routine event for poor African-American men and their families, creating an enduring disadvantage at the very bottom of American society.”

Among African-Americans who have grown up during the era of mass incarceration, one in four has had a parent locked up at some point during childhood. For black men in their 20s and early 30s without a high school diploma, the incarceration rate is so high — nearly 40 percent nationwide — that they’re more likely to be behind bars than to have a job.

via Long Prison Terms Eyed as Contributing to Poverty – NYTimes.com.